Google Ads can be a cost-effective way to boost your online visibility and drive targeted traffic to your website. According to research from Google, businesses make an average of $2 in income for every $1 they spend in Google Ads. But many advertisers make the mistake of thinking that optimization begins after your campaign is up and running.
Clicks cost money. If you want to see a good return on your investment, you need to implement Google Ads best practices from the moment you start selecting your keywords.
Here are 5 essential Google Ads best practices to help you boost the ROI of your campaigns and make every click count.
1. Choose the Right Keywords
Just like SEO, identifying and targeting keywords that convert is a vital factor in Google Ads best practices. Keywords are the search terms you bid on to display your ads in the paid search results. Plenty of businesses squander their ad budget by targeting the wrong audience due to poor keyword research.
There are loads of free and paid tools to help you identify keywords for your campaign. These tools reveal estimates search volumes, so you can see how many people are searching for the keyword, and estimated cost-per-click, so you can see whether the keyword falls within your budget.
If you need some free help, Google’s Keyword Planner is available to everyone with a Google’s Ads account. If you have the budget, SEMrush is a paid software that offers some handy extra features like competitor research to see the keyword strategy of other businesses operating in your niche.
2. Compelling Ad Copy
You need to compel searchers to click on your ad with short and persuasive ad copy. Follow Google Ads best practices and make sure your ad copy contains the following:
- An eye-catching headline that engages your prospects by targeting their pain points.
- Ad copy body that highlights how your product offers a solution to the pain point.
- A solid call to action (CTA) that encourages searchers to click on your ad and continue to your website.
3. Create Conversion-Focused Landing Pages
It’s incredible how many businesses make the mistake of directing their paid traffic to their homepage. Your homepage plays a vital role in the success of your website and overall digital marketing strategy, but it probably doesn’t deliver on what you promised in your ad copy. Dedicated landing pages for each Google Ads campaign makes the transition as smooth as possible for searchers clicking on your ads.
Landing pages are an essential component of Google Ads best practices. Create a landing page that is laser-focused on compelling visitors to convert on the offer you advertised in your ad copy.
4. Test Your Ads
Testing is another essential component of Google Ads best practices. Every change and tweak to your Google Ads campaign should be measured.
After you’ve started your campaign and measured performance, you can test different elements of your ad. For example, create a different CTA and see if it impacts your ability to generate more clicks and conversions. Keep testing and improving your ads to maximize the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaign.
5. Add Negative Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is a vital part of Google Ads best practices, but adding negative keywords to your campaign is just as important. Keywords are the search terms you want your ad to be displayed for, while negative keywords are the terms you don’t want your ad to be displayed for.
For example, if you run a business specializing in high-end luxury furniture, you don’t want to waste your budget by displaying ads to users entering the search term “budget furniture.” To ensure that your ads are only being displayed to the people interested in your products, you would add “budget” to your negative keyword list. Regularly review your search terms report for negative keywords to increase the efficiency of your campaign and reduce wasted clicks.
Google Ads and SEO
Google Ads campaigns don’t have to be an expensive proposition if you utilize the above Google Ads best practices. Every single successful business has a marketing budget, but making the most of that budget is vital.
SEO is a long-term strategy. By using Google Ads to target keyword gaps in your organic SEO strategy, you can gain immediate ranking for hard to reach search terms.
According to research published on HubSpot, PPC campaigns are more effective when used in conjunction with SEO. To make the most of your marketing budget, consider how you can utilize both of these strategies to increase your online visibility, and drive your business forward.
